Evangelism: Witness
November 12th, 2023
Elect Exiles
1 Peter 1-5
November 12th, 2023
Introduction
Good morning, everyone. Grace and peace to you.
You show up to work and you find out corporate ordered a mandatory diversity meeting to promote LBGTQ+ community more positively. HR wants managers to start using more inclusive language, as well as promote the campaign. To make sure you are on board, you will have to sign an agreement. In addition, the office is planning a rainbow day to support the initiative. As a follower of Jesus, how are you supposed to respond?
You are at family gathering and tension fills the air. Everyone is trying to avoid the hot-button issues, but someone (probably that one uncle) brings them up anyway. You want to seek peace, but you do not want to compromise either and you know most people in the room have serious disagreements. The conversation has already begun. As a follower of Jesus, what is the right course of action?
You are at class trying to keep your head down, but the group project finishes early and everyone begins to chat. The guys in the group seem to know each other and they start talking about their rather inappropriate things, expecting you to join in. You try to appear as friendly as possible but it is not working. One of the guys asks you, “What is the matter with you?” As a follower of Jesus, what are you to say?
Those are situations that Christians find themselves in everyday—situations that are becoming more and more common. As our society becomes increasingly post-Christian, we are going to find ourselves increasingly at odds with our neighbors, on the outside looking in. For most, this is new territory, the landscape has changed and we need to chart a new course. What does that look like?
We have arrived at the last phase in our series on evangelism. We have considered what the gospel is and how to share it, putting special emphasis on the practice of hospitality. Now we are considering how to be a faithful witness to the gospel among unbelievers—at home, at work, at class, wherever we find ourselves. The place to do that is 1 Peter, it is basically what the letter is all about.
Peter is writing into a situation not too dissimilar from ours. His audience—a group of churches in modern day Asia Minor—find themselves on the outside looking in. State-sponsored persecution—loss of rights, imprisonments, executions—have not yet begun. Instead, these churches face what we would call soft persecution. They “live with some measure of stability and comfort, yet experience repeated reviling from family members, neighbors, and coworkers” (Clark). In other words, their persecution is more social than political, more verbal than physical.
Peter speaks about them being treated harshly, being slandered, reviled, intimidated, and maligned. His aim is to encourage them to remain loyal to Christ despite the intense social pressures and to provide them with a strategy moving forward. Over the coming weeks, we are going to unearth that strategy and put it into practice. Peter will teach us what it means to be a Christian in a world where that is no longer a good word.
At the bottom of the sea, there are some real strange creatures—the anglerfish, for instance. What makes these fish incredible is their ability to withstand the pressure at the bottom of the ocean. How does they survive at such depths? I am no biologist but my reading tells me it is their internal pressure, the pressure within their bodies is the same as the pressure exerted upon them by the ocean. Whereas every other creature would be instantly crushed, these strange fish survive and thrive.
Peter is out to increase our internal pressure. We are being drawn into deeper waters, where the bright sun does not penetrate and the pressure becomes unbearable. Before we can do anything, our inner person has to be strengthened, made fit to handle the new depths. Otherwise, we will be crushed. What does that look like? Three things:
Coming to terms with our situation.
Becoming people of hope.
Learning to have a proper fear.
Resident Aliens
Peter’s first move is get his readers (and us) to come to terms with our situation. It is not abnormal, it comes with the territory. In the introduction, he refers to his audience as “aliens” (1:1) or “exiles” or “pilgrims,” depending on your translation. Meaning, alienation is not a temporary misfortune, it is our identity in this world. It is something we must accept and comes to terms with.
Our “citizenship is in heaven,” the scripture says (Php 3:20). “Here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come” (Heb 13:14). Therefore, we are “strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb 11:13). Home is no longer home, everything familiar has become strange. I imagine we are all familiar the experience. When I confessed Christ, it was the first thing that struck me. Situations and conversations that used to be normal, suddenly felt wrong. Almost overnight, I was an outsider where I previously felt at home.
Peter reminds us that we are strangers in this age and the reason is because God has chosen us. He addresses his audience as “those who reside as aliens… who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God” (1:1-2). That is, when God chooses a people for himself, he alienates them, he sets them apart from the other peoples of the earth.
God’s choice involves to things. First, it means that we are special to God. Later in chapter two verse nine, Peter says, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession,” or, as one version translates it, “his own special people.” Though we face opposition in the world, sometimes severe, Peter does not want that to cloud our vision. He reminds us that we are very dear to God. He loves us with a special and unique love.
However, because God chose us and loves us, he commands us to be holy and that is the second thing. God says to us, “You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine” (Le 20:26). As God’s special people, we are called to reflect his holy nature in all our words and deeds. It is this—holiness—that makes us strangers and exiles to those around us. Later on Peter says,
For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you. 1 Peter 4:3-4
In other words, holiness is a surprise to non-believers. It leaves them confused and perhaps suspicious, which leads them to speak against us. Peter also mentions that such treatment is due to ignorance. It is “the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men” (3:15). Holiness is something new to them, that cannot be incorporated into their experience and therefore their first instinct is to bad-mouth and ridicule it.
In summary, Peter wants us to know that our status as “strangers and exiles” is not abnormal. It is par for the course in a world that has turned to idolatry and sin, simply what happens to those whom God choose and sets apart. Rather than running from it, he wants us to embrace it. It is who we are.
The church is “chosen” and therefore “alien,” but it is also “scattered.” Again, Peter writes: “To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1:1). In the original, scattered is an agricultural term and it literally means the scattering of seed. God separates us to scatter us, he makes us aliens and strangers to our neighbors and then sprinkles us like seeds on foreign soil to take root and produce fruit.
I can imagine someone thinking: “Why has God put me in this situation? Because I serve Christ, I do not fit in at work, my relationship with my spouse is strained, and I am weary being among the world.” The answer is: God has separated you to sow you. Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it this way: “This is a curse and a promise. God’s people must live in distant lands among the unbelievers, but they will be the seed of the kingdom of God in all the world.”
In the present, we are scattered—planted in foreign soil to bear witness to the kingdom—but in the future, we will be gathered, plucked up from our isolation and bundled into the kingdom.
Hope
Such is our situation. It is nothing new or strange but simply the way things are. It is fine to mourn the changes in our society, to experience frustration and even anger, but sooner rather than later we are going to have to get used to it. That is what Peter wants. Alienation is not temporary misfortune, it is our lot in this world. The question is not: How can we go back to the way things were before? But: How are we to respond to the new normal?
Peter has a surprising strategy (as we will see next week), but he takes on deeper matters first. His primary goal is to encourage his readers (and us) with future glory awaiting us on the last day. That is, he aim to strengthen us in hope, that we would become people of hope.
If our hearts are not settled in “living hope” of the resurrection, then we are not going to be prepared to face the opposition of the world. The strong might stand for a time but sooner rather than later the foundation will crumble even beneath them. We can get by without being particularly courageous or tough or wise but we cannot get by without hope. It is the main ingredient in Peter’s counsel.
In fact, hope is where he begins. Peter’s first real imperative—that is, the first thing he tell us to do—is hope. “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” he says (1:13). What is this hope?
First, it is a secure and lasting hope. It is necessary to have faith in this because our eyes show us something different—the lasting thing is not the kingdom but the ridicule and exclusion of this world. When our grip on the kingdom slackens, so does our witness. One author put it this way: “It may not be overt persecution that… tamps down your witness; it can simply be the shame of having those closest to you consider you to be foolish, ignorant, arrogant, misguided, or prude. Or it can be the threat of isolation, of being perpetually uninvited, unrecognized, or unwanted.”
“I don’t want to be embarrassed or shamed,” we think implicitly, so we sensor ourselves, we turn on incognito mode and hide our true colors. Thus our allegiance to Christ is allowed to become a private thing, sectioned off from work or class or anywhere it might offend. Peter recognizes the social pressure we face but he does not attempt to minimize it. Instead, he counters it with something greater.
Yes, we face “various trials” but they are “only for a little while,” he says (1:6) and he repeats himself at the close of the letter, we suffer but only “for a little while” (5:10). It is only for a little while, hereafter comes something unimaginably superior that will make every slight, every put-down, and every persecution worth it.
Because Jesus rose from the dead, we have “an inheritance,” Peter says, “imperishable and undefiled and [which] will not fade away” (1:4). The contrast is between that which is fading, temporary, no more than a vapor, and that which is lasting, eternal, and substantial. “The sufferings of the present time,” Paul says, “are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Ro 8:18). And again: “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2Co 4:18).
Peter urges us to “fix [our] hope completely” on this coming day. It is unseen now but all will be made plain “at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” To bear up under the shame that is our lot in this age, we need our hearts firmly planted in the next.
Moreover, Peter wants us to know such verbal and social persecution is necessary. “For a little while, if necessary,” he says, “you have been distressed by various trials” (1:6). We need to be clear that God is never the source or cause of suffering, as if he willed the harm of his people. Rather, “every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above” (Jas 1:17). God does not will our suffering, but he does use it.
It is necessary that we are ruffed up at the hands of unbelievers from time time, that we share in the exclusion and exile of the church, because these are instruments that God uses to test and purify our faith. “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God,” Paul and Barnabas proclaimed (Ac 14:22). Again: though you might question God’s design, that he has placed among mockers and scoffers, his intention remains good and kind.
Peter says:
If necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6-7
Our faith is “tested by fire” but it rebounds to our benefit. It results “in praise and glory and honor.” Here is the miraculous thing—that is our praise and glory and honor that Peter refers to. God tests our faith, whether or not we will withstand the slander and shame dished out to us by unbelievers. If it stands, he will bestow upon us his eternal glory on the last day. As Paul says, “We suffer with [Christ] in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Ro 8:17). In the last estimate, we cannot lose. All things are working together for our good.
Therefore, Peter says, “you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1:8). Hope makes us joyous and even glad amidst deep opposition.
“During the reign of Soviet communism, multitudes of Romanians, including many Christians, were tortured as criminals of the state” (Clark). One such prisoner was Richard Wurmbrand, a minister. He recounts one of his memories from his time in jail, saying:
“It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching. They were happy beating us, so everyone was happy.”
Such is the nature of our living hope, it cannot be extinguished even under severe persecution. “It’s a hope that [is] baffling… to our doctors, counselors, classmates, or next-door neighbor. And it’s… the kind of hope we need to have amid our suffering and social exclusion” (Clark).
In fact, it is supposed to be so present within us that others take notice. Be “ready,” Peter says, “to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you” (3:15). He envisions this hope being so alive within us that it opens doors for the gospel wherever we go. “Why are you like this?” someone might ask. “How come you are not put out by their words? How come you remain joyful despite their treatment? How come you still serve Christ?”
Apart from this living hope, we simply will not have the internal resources to bear up under the threats and ridicule of the world. With this living hope, we can not only bear up but positively joyful in the midst of it. Where is you hope?
Fear
Peter’s initial counsel is about hope and his secondary counsel (no less important) is about fear. It might seem counterintuitive but he wants us not to banish fear but to have the right kind of fear. There is no such thing as a fearless person, in other words. Everyone fears, the only difference is what or whom they fear. Peter wants to move us from the fear of man to the fear of God, from a fear that paralyzes to a fear that frees.
He says:
Do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. 1 Peter 3:14–15
Peter’s words here are actually a citation from Isaiah 8:12-13: “You are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it,” God says. “It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And he shall be your fear, and he shall be your dread.” Isaiah was commissioned to preach a gospel that would be rejected, the people would not heed him and thus he is commanded not to fear them or their threats. He is to fear and dread God, not men and what they might do to him. This greater fear, this holy fear would keep him from being cowed into silence.
Peter applies the same words to us. He urges us to “sanctify Christ as Lord in [our] hearts,” or as another translation has it, to “revere Christ as Lord.” In order to remain loyal to the gospel, our reverence for Christ must exceed our fear of men and their threats. That is, when push comes to shove, we’d rather lose our reputation, our friends, our career, and even our lives than dishonor Christ. His holy name is burned onto our hearts and we cannot deny it.
You do not need to be tough at work or at home or anywhere else, toughness is not a Christian virtue. You need to be fearful—not less but more, not of men but of God. Christian heroes, those who sacrifice life and limb for the gospel, are not like the heroes of the world—proud, confident, and macho—they are fearful men and women, whose fear is in God alone. “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,” Paul says to the Corinthians (1Co 2:3).
When we say that our problem is fearing others too much, we should note what such fear looks like. “We typically aren’t running from people in terror. We aren’t cowering in a corner… Rather, fearing others more than God usually demonstrates itself in trying to please them more than God” (Clark). In other words, we please what we fear.
If that happens to be our boss or coworkers, then it is our witness to the gospel which is neglected. If it is the culture, then we end up changing or leaving out elements of the truth that are offensive. If it is our own security and comfort, then we will be faithful right up to the point where it begins to cost us something.
Are there happenings and trends to be fearful about in our society? Yes, the church’s cultural and social capital is vanishing into thin air. Yes, school curriculum is being weaponized to indoctrinate children into secular dogma and a new sexual ethic. Yes, it is not hard to imagine how certain laws against discrimination and hate-speech could be used be used against the church.
There is much to fear on a personal level as well. By remaining true to Christ we run the risk of forfeiting promotions or being passed up for positions, missing out on tenure and contacts. We might even lose our jobs and families.
“Yet none of that… justifies [us] being terrified. We must not… tremble in fear at the thought of surrendering a job or business, at a failed school board initiative or a particular Supreme Court decision. Because if we do, we’re preaching the… wrong gospel. We’re telling them our greatest fear is he loss of money and power and influence, the lost of our beloved comfort. But as long as that is the case, we show that our fear (and our gospel) is no different from theirs” (Clark).
Instead, God says, “You are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.” Our fear is in God and the one we aim to please is Christ. We will happily bear their displeasure and disapproval us, so long as on the last day we stand unashamed before Christ. We fear him not because he is a tyrant but because we have been redeemed by his “precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless” (1:17). This is a marvelous and fearful thing. “What is man that thou are mindful of him?” We fear God in Christ because he loved us and bled and died for us and our salvation.
The Lord’s Supper
Read: “The Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’”
Read: “In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’”
Read: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
